FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 25, 2017

East New York Man Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison
For Shooting Man in the Head

Coldly Fired at Victim, Who Lost his Right Eye

Acting Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a 32-year-old man from East New York, Brooklyn was sentenced to 30 years in prison for shooting a 22-year-old man, at close range, between his eyes and causing him to lose sight in his right eye.

Acting District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant coldly shot a person in the face at point-blank range and it is a miracle that the victim survived. There is no place in our society for those who commit acts of gun violence. Today’s sentence is well-deserved and should serve as a warning to others that shootings such as this will not be tolerated in Brooklyn.”

The Acting District Attorney identified the defendant as Eric Brewster, 32, of East New York, Brooklyn. He was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Bruce Balter to 30 years in prison following his conviction earlier this month on charges of second-degree attempted murder and first-degree criminal use of a firearm after a jury trial.

The Acting District Attorney said that on July 12, 2014, at about 7:50 p.m., the victim, 22-year-old Dasia Pettiway, got off a bus and headed with two friends to a corner store located at 1017 Hegeman Street in East New York. As he entered, the defendant approached the store and then called the victim to come out, the evidence showed.

The defendant and the victim engaged in a brief conversation and then, as the victim was distracted by a friend handing him a cigarette, the defendant shot him in the head at close range. The bullet struck the victim directly between his eyes and tore through his right eye, according to testimony. The victim underwent surgery to remove the remnants of his right eye. A surveillance video shows the defendant getting dropped off by a silver sedan about a block from the store and additional footage captures him fleeing the location after the shooting, with one video clearly showing him holding a firearm.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Scott, of the District Attorney’s Violent Criminal Enterprises Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Nicole Chavis, Bureau Chief, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division.